Mass Effect: Andromeda Multiplayer Review

Mass Effect: Andromeda’s (ME:A) multiplayer elaborates and improves on the standout features from Mass Effect 3’s (ME3), amping up the gameplay experience.

ME3 vs ME:A Multiplayer

In ME:A’s predecessor, ME3, playing the multiplayer missions rewarded you with War Assets, which contributed to a readiness score. A high readiness score was needed to follow certain story options—the higher your score, the better you did.

This was heavily criticised by those who just wanted to play the single player campaign. Perhaps why in ME:A, playing the multiplayer is no longer necessary to do well at the single player campaign.

Still, they have added some incentives. Completing multiplayer missions in ME:A nets rewards in the form of loot crates (the type of crate is determined by the difficulty of the mission completed) which are only redeemable in the single player game.

However, neglecting multiplayer because it is no longer necessary for the single player campaign would be a mistake. The opportunity to perform co-operative missions, and the way that changes aspects of gameplay, is too good to miss.

How is Multiplayer Better?

The multiplayer has three difficulty levels; Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The missions are in the form of horde mode, with seven waves of enemies attack at increasing levels of difficulty. The third and sixth waves are objective rounds in which you’ll have to disable devices or assassinate specific targets. The final wave is the extraction, a count-down timer to mission completion.

So far this sounds almost identical to ME3, right?

It is similar, just better.

Andromeda introduces a smart cover system, so instead of pressing a button to make your character go into cover, simply being near cover will do it for you. This is a huge improvement from ME3, where the cover button for the PC was spacebar, the same button for running. In ME3, your character always stuck to cover when they ran by whereas ME:A seems to have done away with this problem, making the gameplay feel smooth.

Jet packs are another addition. In ME3, there was no ‘jump’. In ME:A, the game designers have taken jumping to another level, making combat multi-layered and mobility increasingly important.

On top of this, they’ve improved the AI, making it more aggressive. My first foray into the game, after a long hiatus from ME3, made for an embarrassing experience. With the added features, it took me awhile to get a handle on things.

Once you’ve become familiar with the new level of gameplay the frostbite engine makes possible, the experience becomes more exciting than embarrassing—even if you’re still getting your ass handed to you by Observers.

With only five maps, it might feel like Andromeda’s multiplayer is lacking.

But, this will likely change.

In ME3, all the multiplayer DLC was released free of charge, and EA are continuing this trend in Andromeda. While it might feel like there aren’t too many maps now, soon there will be plenty.

Like all BioWare games, ME:A is primarily about the single player experience. However, if you’re planning on picking up Andromeda, don’t disregard the multiplayer, or you’ll miss out on half the fun.